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Germany Quintuples Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt

The German government approved nearly €450 million ($526 million) worth of weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the third quarter of 2017, more than five times the €86 million it sold in the same quarter of last year.

The German Economy Ministry disclosed the numbers after an MP from opposition Left party, Stefan Liebich, requested the information, DW reported.

Egypt alone bought nearly €300 million worth of weapons, making it the number one export destination for German arms, while Saudi Arabia handed over nearly €150 million. By comparison, the two countries imported €45 million and €41 million respectively in the third quarter of 2016.

The ministry’s disclosure did not give details on the types of weapons exported, but a large proportion of the sales to Saudi Arabia are likely to be taken up by the sale of four patrol boats and 110 military trucks, since these sales were disclosed by the government in July.

Speaking to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Liebich criticized the government’s exports to both countries as “particularly reprehensible.”

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have “to answer for the thousands of deaths from their dirty war in Yemen,” he said.

Cairo and Riyadh have been supporting the government against the rebels. In 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention that has reportedly killed over 10,000 people.

Liebich warned the four parties currently negotiating a new coalition government to chart a new course in Germany’s arms export policy. Otherwise, he said, the new government would make itself complicit.

Meanwhile, the top UN aid official in Yemen called on the Saudi-led coalition to open all Yemen’s sea ports urgently on Tuesday, saying it risked undoing the fight against cholera and hunger, with 7 million already in “famine-like conditions”, Reuters reported.

Jamie McGoldrick said the north of the country had 20 days’ stocks of diesel, which were crucial for pumping water and fighting a huge cholera outbreak, and 10 days’ stocks of gasoline, with no prospect of resupply soon.

The US-backed Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi movement said last week it had closed all air, land and seaports in Yemen.